SCORES & OUTDOORS: It looks like six more weeks of winter; but how severe?

Woody’s new digs.

by Roland D. Hallee

This year, the time really snuck up on me. Looking at the calendar as January faded away, I realized that February 2 was right around the corner. “I’m late this year,” I thought. It was time to go visit Woodrow Charles, the weather prognosticating groundhog buddy of mine who lives out in Center Vassalboro.

I hastily threw on a jacket, wrapped a scarf around my neck, put on my boots and headed out the door. It was a cold January morning, and I wanted to get out there before the nor’easter that was headed our way.

The walk to Woody’s “palace” wasn’t too bad with relatively little snow on the ground. As I approached his den, things didn’t seem the same. Was I lost? I looked around and for sure, I was in the right place. But his den was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, I noticed a note pinned to a tree. I wandered over.

“To whom it may concern:

“My home has been confiscated by the owners of the property who bulldozed the stump and are preparing to put in a swimming pool. I have moved a little farther south, in an abandoned tree trunk.” Signed: Woody.

Well, what a turn of events. I took a left turn, and proceeded down a path through the woods. I would have missed the place had he not had a wood fire going, and the distinct smell guided me to his new abode.

I knocked, and after a few moments, Woody came to the opening. He didn’t even have a door.

“Oh, hi,” he said. “I was hoping you would come along. My apologies for the place, but I was rudely and unceremoniously run out of my other place. I’ve only been here a couple of week.”

“Boy, this place sure doesn’t come close to comparing with the other,” I said. “No big screen TV, no Keurig, probably no internet either,” I exclaimed.

“All in good time, my friend,” he responded. “Have you priced the rental market these days?”

“No, I guess not. I’ve lived in the same house for the past 46 years.”

“What are you going to do about the Super Bowl party with your buddies, Frank, Butch and Slim,” I asked.

“That’ll have to wait until next year,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go down to the local VFW and watch it there through the window.”

“Prediction?” I asked.

“Cincinnati 20, Los Angeles 17, in overtime. That seems to be the trend this season.”

Again, I left myself open for that one. “No, for the rest of the winter,” I blurted.

“Well, I saw my shadow. You see, I had to go back to primitive ways to predict the rest of the winter, with all my electronic equipment gone, and everything. However, it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to see any significant winter weather coming our way, at least in the northern tier of the U.S., for the next several weeks. March and April will experience a “back-and-forth” between the seasons with cold spells followed by warmups.

“March as a whole is looking to be slightly warmer than normal, helping out those who had high heating bills earlier in the winter during bitterly cold blasts of Arctic air, but this doesn’t mean that residents can pack away coats and break out shorts just yet. Cold fronts could still periodically swing through in February, March and even April, although the cold blasts may not be as intense as they were throughout January.

“These cold fronts will prevent extended spells of warm weather across the region and may also be accompanied by accumulating snow, including the chance of plowable snow along the Interstate-95 corridor.”

I said to him that this winter has already been the snowiest in years in Washington, D.C., with more than 12 inches accumulating in the city in January alone. Last winter, 5.4 inches of snow accumulated in D.C., and just 0.6 of an inch of snow fell there the year before that. With the prospects of snow remaining elevated into the first part of spring, this could finish as one of the snowiest years in the nation’s capital in nearly a decade.

However, the snow has not been as heavy farther north with Philadelphia picking up 4.6 inches and New York City measuring 7 inches in that same timeframe.

Woody responded by saying these cities could still end the year with near-average seasonal snowfall with the potential for wintry storms continuing over the Northeast as late as April.

“So, are you telling me to expect six more weeks of winter and beyond,” I remarked with astonishment.

“You could say that,” Woody replied.

I couldn’t help but think: that guy seems to know a lot about what is going to happen, just by whether or not he sees his shadow. I am not totally convinced.

With that, I bid my adieu and departed, a little exasperated, thinking we could be in this for the long haul, even though this has been a relatively mild winter through January, except for the cold snap we experienced toward the end of the month, and that nor’easter that blew its way through here.

We can only wait to see what develops, and deal with it.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

The Cincinnati Bengals (0-2), and Los Angeles/St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (1-3) are a combined 1-5 in Super Bowls. Who did the Rams defeat for their only win?

Answer can be found here.